When I was at Cumberland House, (an inland settlement that I established for the Hudson's Bay Company in the year 1774,) I was particularly acquainted with a very young lady of this extraordinary turn; who, when I desired some Indians that were going to war to bring me a young slave, which I intended to have brought up as a domestic, Miss was equally desirous that one might be brought to her, for the cruel purpose of murdering it. It is scarcely possible to express my astonishment, on hearing such an extraordinary request made by a young creature scarcely sixteen years old; however, as soon as I recovered from my surprise, I ordered her to leave the settlement, which she did, with those who were going to war; and it is therefore probable she might not be disappointed in her request. The next year I was ordered to the command of Prince of Wales's Fort, and therefore never saw her afterward.
[107] The map is very indefinite in this part of his course, and little dependence can be placed on his positions. The place where he came to the Slave (Athapuscow) River must have been some distance south of Great Slave Lake, and as he followed it upwards for forty miles to where it turned to the south, he probably reached some place not far from the rapids at Fort Smith, in latitude 60° north, which is 15' south of the point indicated on his map as the place where he left the river and struck into the country to the east.
[108] When the geography of the country between Athabasca and Great Slave Lakes becomes known, it may be possible to follow him here, but his map gives no indication of any stream in this vicinity flowing into Lake Clowey. He appears to have thought so little of the small river that he did not take the trouble to map it.
[109] The reference here and on the following pages is certainly to the belt of forest which occurs on the banks of Thelon River and its tributary above its junction with the Dubawnt River. J. W. Tyrrell, who explored and surveyed this river in 1900, refers to it as follows:—
"The investigations of the present expedition have, however, established both the existence and location of such an oasis; but, as predicted by Hearne, the primitive settlers have long since departed, although for some other reasons than lack of fuel.
"In support of Hearne's story, and my belief that his reference was to the valley of the Thelon, it may be noted that some very old choppings were observed, as well as the decayed, moss-grown remains of some very old camps, whilst scarcely any recent signs of habitation exist.
"The wooded, or partially-wooded, banks of the Thelon extend for a distance of about one hundred and seventy miles below the forks of the Hanbury. This distance is not to be understood as a continuous stretch of timber, but over that distance many fine spruce groves, as well as more or less continuous thinly-scattered trees are found. The largest trees measured from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, but the average diameter would be about six inches." (Append. 26, Pt. III. Annual Report, Department of the Interior, Canada, 1901, pp. 7, 27.)
[BI] To snare swans, geese, or ducks, in the water, it requires no other process than to make a number of hedges, or fences, project into the water, at right angles, from the banks of a river, lake, or pond; for it is observed that those birds generally swim near the margin, for the benefit of feeding on the grass, &c. Those fences are continued for some distance from the shore, and separated two or three yards from each other, so that openings are left sufficiently large to let the birds swim through. In each of those openings a snare is hung and fastened to a stake, which the bird, when intangled, cannot drag from the bottom; and to prevent the snare from being wafted out of its proper place by the wind, it is secured to the stakes which form the opening, with tender grass, which is easily broken.
This method, though it has the appearance of being very simple, is nevertheless attended with much trouble, particularly when we consider the smallness of their canoes, and the great inconveniency they labour under in performing works of this kind in the water. Many of the stakes used on those occasions are of a considerable length and size, and the small branches which form the principal part of the hedges, are not arranged without much caution, for fear of oversetting the canoes, particularly where the water is deep, as it is in some of the lakes; and in many of the rivers the current is very swift, which renders this business equally troublesome. When the lakes and rivers are shallow, the natives are frequently at the pains to make fences from shore to shore.
To snare those birds in their nests requires a considerable degree of art, and, as the natives say, a great deal of cleanliness; for they have observed, that when snares have been set by those whose hands were not clean, the birds would not go into the nest.